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I want to buy a Wii


suzumebachi
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I regularly bought and scalped Wiis on ebay over the Christmas period, it allowed me to shovel myself out of some college debt.

Anyhow, while doing this, I would occasionally take one Wii and sell it from just barely above retail price to people I know online who wanted them. We're talking like $251 + shipping and shit.

Because I'm such a fucking nice guy.

I guess what I'm saying is, eBay. Or craigslist.

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"unscrupulous money grubbing vendors" includes eBay and craigslist scalpers.

Pay a friend who works at Best Buy to get one for you from the next shipment.

If you don't know anyone who works at Best Buy...you don't have enough friends.

the nearest Best Buy is 50 miles away and no I don't know anyone who works there.

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I have a friend who works at Circuit City. He wanted to get a Wii for his Dad. They got a few in, and it had to be packaged in a cardboard box. Demand is so bad over there that he brought me along as a bodyguard.

It took me around 15 or so tries and four or five months to get a Wii.

Thanks scalpers, thanks walmart, and thanks Nintendo.

The golden award for biggest perpetrators go to the people who list the Wii as "Wii with 5 games!!" when those five games are subgames in Wii sports. Pathetic I say.

Happy hunting Suzemabachi.

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I regularly bought and scalped Wiis on ebay over the Christmas period, it allowed me to shovel myself out of some college debt. Anyhow, while doing this, I would occasionally take one Wii and sell it from just barely above retail price to people I know online who wanted them. We're talking like $251 + shipping and shit. Because I'm such a fucking nice guy. I guess what I'm saying is, eBay. Or craigslist.
I scalped 3 myself - I wish I tried harder to get a few more to put up on ebay, but oh well. Do you live near a Circuit City or Target suzu? Keep track of the Sunday ads, and camp out the night before the Sunday the ad is for (assuming that the ad lists the Wii as in stock for that day) in front of the store if you want to be safe (this applies more for Circuit City than Target).
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I scalped 3 myself - I wish I tried harder to get a few more to put up on ebay, but oh well. Do you live near a Circuit City or Target suzu? Keep track of the Sunday ads, and camp out the night before the Sunday the ad is for (assuming that the ad lists the Wii as in stock for that day) in front of the store if you want to be safe (this applies more for Circuit City than Target).

How much did you usually make?

I did 4 total. Two eBay, one craigslist, one to a friend for the cheapo price because I'm nice. The first Wii I sold was in November on eBay, and it netted $430+$30 shipping. The next on eBay was $350+$30 shipping. Craigslist was $350+$30 (and she was EXTREMELY happy to have it, no complaints at all, plus when I met her she was hoooot).

Money grubbing? Hardly. We provide a service that people require. Some people actually find it WORTHWHILE to spend that extra $50 or $100 so that THEY don't have to stand in line at 2 in the morning to get the Wii. Some consider their time as money, and this money well spent.

I stood out in the snow for 10 hours total for all my Wii's I think, and it was time well goddamn spent.

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Wow. Wii's are still hard to come by after all this time? I guess it's no surprise. When my wife and I went to Gamestop (we left 450 bucks less in our pockets) it took all of 25 minutes for the 6 units they'd gotten in just 25 minutes prior to our visit. The things are still selling like hotcakes. I'm so glad I already got mine, and all I can say is........HAH HAH.

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What are the closest stores near you? Or are you looking "online" only?

within 15 miles or so there's two wal-marts, a gamestop, and a hastings. and that's about it, really. but if i'm really desperate i can drive all the way to albuquerque where there's like target and circuit city and best buy and comp USA and software etc and babbages and EB and whatever else. but that's a long drive to make to come back empty handed.

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Money grubbing? Hardly. We provide a service that people require. Some people actually find it WORTHWHILE to spend that extra $50 or $100 so that THEY don't have to stand in line at 2 in the morning to get the Wii. Some consider their time as money, and this money well spent.

No offense, but I still call bullshit regarding the "service" part of that. It may only be a service for those who wanted to get it AT LAUNCH without wanting to wait in line and didn't care about spending the extra cash. The scenario I envision is that you, as a scalper, are taking a spot in the queue from someone else who wants to get the system, and circumstances may then force the person to buy from a scalper on eBay (let's say their child's b-day, and the system is THE thing they'd really want). Effectively, you forced the person in this case to pay an extra $50-100 despite that they waited in line. Had the scalper not been there, the transaction would have happened that much quicker, more smoothly, and for less.

At any rate, you can try to justify scalping anything (systems, tickets, whatever) any way you want, but in the end it is what it is. I personally don't see it as right, regardless. Not trying to start a debate/condemn you for scalping/whatever, just expressing my personal thoughts on the subject.

Anyway, I had gotten a Wii for a Friend's b-day in...March last year I think. While I was working on getting that, I found that least the Toys R Us stores around here tended to put new shipments of Wiis for sale every Sunday. At the time, the store workers were relatively willing to let in on when they got shipments, but things may be different now. I guess more than anything it just takes vigilance, if you can't find out when stores nearby get shipments in.

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I blame Nintendo first and foremost for not keeping up with production. But part of the problem is people seeing Wiis and thinking "Goldmine" and buying them.

Then some people go and mark it up on eBay so honest gamers don't get it but rather, some parents who spoil little Jimmy or some dude that has to have everything and puts it in a box after playing Wii Sports for a few days.

:smile: But we still love you.

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Amazingly, I lucked out when I went to the midnight release of Brawl at the local Gamestop. A guy there that I was talking to told me about the Target near it that had four of them in stock that very night. So I went to a friend's house, played brawl all night, and then got to Target at 8 in the morning and bought one.

On the subject of scalping though, it's a load of crap. Justify it how you like, you're still ripping off the average Joe (like me) who wants to get one hassle free. Instead I go on amazon to see what they might have and my eyeballs nearly popped out of my head. 350+ for a system that will cost you that once you've at least gotten a game and an extra controller. That's not a deal folks, it's a scam. If anything, I'd expect at this point people would be taking pity on us poor folk that waited a year to buy the system. (And I do not believe the crap about Nintendo not matching production demands. It's been a year and a half, ample time to figure out the demand levels. Unavailability makes the item more desirable, and clearly the strategy is still working.) It's not just stupid people you're making money off of anymore, it's the desperate and the hard lucked and that's just wrong.

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Whine all you want, but the people willing to pay $350 deserve to have one more than you. And the people willing to pay $450 deserve one more than them, and so on. The fact is if you're not willing to pay someone else like Bahamut or Nekofrog to camp a Wii for you, you're gonna have to go out and do it yourself. Either way, it's time for people to either suck it up or shut it up.

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Whine all you want, but the people willing to pay $350 deserve to have one more than you. And the people willing to pay $450 deserve one more than them, and so on. The fact is if you're not willing to pay someone else like Bahamut or Nekofrog to camp a Wii for you, you're gonna have to go out and do it yourself. Either way, it's time for people to either suck it up or shut it up.

Funny thing is, I didn't camp for these 3 - I waited on Amazon.com on Black Friday since I knew they would have Wiis in stock as soon as it turned midnight on PST, and I bought 3 up as soon as they were available.

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My cousin ended up getting one at K-mart. He told me they had several in stock for a few days. Guess no one in my area cared to look there. Good luck tho.

Random note but my roommate says I've degraded my Wii by putting Gundam and Evangelion stickers on it... Did I?

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